116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Doctor needs help gathering goods for Haitians
CORALVILLE - Congestion at the Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti is hampering the ability for one University of Iowa emergency medical doctor to travel to the country and provide assistance to those who survived the quake.
It has been an agonizing few days for Dr. Christopher Buresh, assistant clinical professor of emergency medicine at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, to hear about what is happening in a country he has frequented and to know he cannot get there as quickly as he would like.
“The emails say ‘Help, we're out of Band-Aids, we're out of gloves, we're out of medicine, we're out of food, [we] just had to bury 90 people today,” said Dr. Buresh.
Dr. Buresh says the difficulty getting there is getting frustrating and he is growing impatient. For now, he is biding his time collecting the necessities he thinks he might need when he finally arrives in the disaster zone.
Sprawled across the floor of his home are sacks filled with gauze, syringes, water filtration devices, and dehydrated food he will take with him to Haiti. There is also an axe to chop wood to fuel fires to purify water and a camping saw which will be used for amputations. Though Dr. Buresh has collected much, he is missing a critical component to treating the living in Haiti.
"I'm thinking we're going to need a lot of antibiotics for infectious wounds, diarrhea, people with broken ribs get pneumonia,” said Dr. Buresh. “I think it's going to be pretty ugly.”
Dr. Buresh admitted he is not exactly sure what exactly the Haitians need right now. He is realistic that he will not be able to help everyone, but knows his team can do some things.
“We need to dig some latrines, start purifying water, make sure everyone is safe and start triaging folks,” said Dr. Buresh.
The majority of Dr. Buresh's efforts will be focused on helping those in Leogane, a village 20 miles from the capital city of Port-au-Prince. He has not heard how many of his Haitian friends there are doing and he is desperate to get there as soon as possible.
"I'm about as determined as you can be,” said Dr. Buresh. “I'll do everything I can - move heaven and earth - I'll swim if I need to."
Dr. Buresh says he plans to either fly down on a private jet or with the Minnesota Air National Guard. If he cannot fly in, he has some friends in Florida who will take him there in a boat.
If you would like to donate supplies to Dr. Buresh and his team to take with them to Haiti, email the doctor at christopher-buresh@uiowa.edu.
By Jami Brinton
KCRG TV9 News
A pile of medical supplies donated by local businesses sits in the home of Dr. Christopher Buresh, an assistant professor in the University of Iowa Department of Emergency Medicine Friday, Jan. 15, 2010 in Coralville. Buresh is working on making travel arrangements for himself and his team to travel to Haiti with the supplies to help in the earthquake relief efforts. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)
Dr. Christopher Buresh, an assistant professor in the University of Iowa Department of Emergency Medicine sorts through some of the medical supplies that local businesses have donated and that he has purchased for a trip to Haiti Friday, Jan. 15, 2010 at his home in Coralville. Buresh is working on making travel arrangements for himself and his team to travel to Haiti with the supplies to help in the earthquake relief efforts. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)
Daily Newsletters